


The Three Iron Bands

by deaneatscake



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fairy Tale Retellings, Frog Prince AU, M/M, Servant!Castiel, prince!Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 04:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11246505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deaneatscake/pseuds/deaneatscake
Summary: Based on this prompt: "Destiel The Frog Prince AU but with Dean as the prince and Cas as his friend and servant (”Iron Henry”) who was so worried about his prince’s fate that he had to wear iron bands over his heart to keep it from breaking."





	1. Prologue – The Curse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Helianthus21](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helianthus21/gifts).



> This was a prompt / idea by helianthus21 on [tumblr](https://helianthus21.tumblr.com/post/161977962483/destiel-the-frog-prince-au-but-with-dean-as-the) and I just had to take it and make something of it! It didn’t turn out exactly the way I wanted to but I’m still reasonably pleased. I took a few liberties with this because the backstory in this fic is not the story how the Prince got cursed in the original tale. I felt that it wouldn’t fit, so… However, I did keep the fact that Princess does not kiss the frog in original version (shocking, I know). You can read the original version [here](http://www.grimmstories.com/language.php?grimm=001&l=en&r=de).  
> I tried to match the writing style of fairy tales but somehow ended up re-narrating the prologue of Avatar, whoops!!

In the old times, when it was still of some use to wish for the things one wanted, there lived a beautiful royal family in a beautiful kingdom. The family ruled fairly and kindly and everyone, citizens and servants alike, loved them. Their two sons, Dean and Samuel, were strong and brave men with a beauty that made women faint and men jealous.

Everyone lived together in peace and harmony, until one day a terrible curse beset the land. Crops were wilting, the cattle were dying, and misery and wrath was infesting the minds of the folk. It was clear that this was a witches doing, but no matter how many of his men King John set at the task of finding her, the curse was not to be broken.

It wasn’t until one day the oldest son, Dean, decided to take matters into his own hands that things changed. He set out on a quest to find a mysterious wishing well in the far away lands. Every child in the kingdom knew the story of wishing wells: if you were righteous and held love in your heart, a wish – however small or big may be – would be granted to you. They were also told that there had to be a price to be paid, but Dean assumed that whatever he had to pay, he would gladly do it for his kingdom.

So, the Prince set out to his quest and he was never heard of again. The kingdom, however, started to bloom and prosper shortly after, completely forgetting the sacrifice of the Prince who had brought happiness back into the land.

This could be where this story ends, but it doesn’t. Because this isn’t the story of the royal family, or even of the beautiful and brave Prince – this is the story of the servant Castiel.


	2. Chapter I - The Servant

Castiel had been a servant of the royal family as long as he could imagine. He was following a long tradition in his family and he and his siblings were  supposed to see to every wish  the royal children might have.  This was a  task he’d take very seriously until he was appointed head servant of the oldest son, Dean. It certainly helped that they were of similar age and over the years, a friendship had bloomed between them that many  people were envious of. 

Years had passed and awe had turned into devotion had turned into infatuation had turned into love. Castiel was well aware that these were very inappropriate feelings to have, not so much because it was a man he was feeling them towards, but because  the Prince would never be able to love him back, his duty being with the kingdom and producing as many little beautiful royal children as possible.  So he did the only thing possible: bury his feelings between the friendship they shared and the duties he had to fulfill towards the Prince.  S till, Castiel couldn’t help but feel like something deep inside  him  had died when he heard th e news that the Prince would likely be never coming back. 

_ ( We of course know that Prince Dean wasn’t dead, he was just – well, unavailable. As it turned out, the payment  of wishing something at the well  consisted of one simple thing: to aid  whatever wishing well  was in need of a guardian and fulfill the wishes of  everyone who came by until one day  he  would be released from his misery .  _

_ Naturally , this wasn’t a task Dean was allowed to do in his awe-inspiring human form – no, he had to take on the form a regular old frog.  And because fate was cruel,  the payment for his freedom would have to be  to ‘fall in every way imaginable’ .  What that meant?  Well, that what was Dean was wondering, too, and he made his peace with the fact that he would never see his loved ones again.  _

_ S o he spent the next months of his life as the guardian of a wishing well in a kingdom far away from home, fulfilling wishes of obnoxious toddlers who wished for  candy, old women wishing for their men at war to come back healthy, and sometimes even stray cats who wished for a delicious mouse to play with. ) _

A s it turned out, the royal family  had  all but forgot te n everything about their eldest son. This was, of course, not out of malice, but rather  a side effect of the same curse that had Dean turned into a frog. But Castiel, pure of heart and in love with the Prince, was an exception. H is love for the young man had  cursed  him with the knowledge of everything the Prince had ever done, including his sacrifice, and  Castiel feared that he would become mad with grief and sorrow that he couldn’t share with anyone in the kingdom because no one remembered. 

After a few months had passed, Castiel couldn’t take it anymore. He visited a witch and asked for nothing else than something that would prevent his heart from breaking. The witch was happy to oblige and forged three iron bands to wrap around his heart; but as she touched his heart to adjust the iron bands around it, she could feel the misery and pain of the young servant. She wanted to help him, but as she knew that tampering with fate was a dangerous task, she did the only thing she could: point him into the general direction of the kingdom she knew the Prince was held prisoner in. 

“I will grant you these iron bands so you can resume your life, but know that they will not protect you forever. If you want your heart to be truly healed, your only chance will be to break away from everything that still hold you here and ride north. I cannot tell you where to go – you’ll have to follow your heart. You’ll only have three months time to find your destiny, otherwise the bands around your heart will fall into pieces and you will never love again.” 

I t was an ominous task, but because Castiel  had nothing to live for since Dean had vanished, he decided to take his chances and  find whatever was awaiting him at the end of his journey. Not telling anyone of his plans, he simply stole the first stallion he could find from the royal stables, packed some provisions, and left under the cover of the night. 

T he first few weeks were  tiring and almost making Castiel doubt his plans, but as he finally crossed the border to the kingdom the wishing well was in, he soon heard rumors about a mysterious Prince that had been visiting the royal family and was apparently not leaving anytime soon. 

Upon hearing the news, Castiel could feel his heart flutter faintly under the weight of the iron bands. Could it be Dean? Was he in fact not visiting, but rather  being held prisoner? Could it be this family that had cursed the lands many months ago?  W ith new found determination, he  led his horse to the well-guarded castle.  Castiel would free Dean,  no matter what the cost may be.  No price could be too much to pay to maybe, finally, see his love again. 

T hree days later and with almost a month to spare he arrived in front of the castle.  Truth be told, he hadn’t made any plans how to actually get inside – the last days he had been riding in a sheer frenzy, rarely resting in the night, and  now that he was  finally at his destination, he could feel exhaustion overwhelming him. 

As it turned out, Castiel didn’t need an elaborate plan to get inside the castle – and Dean also wasn’t being held prisoner. Because just as Castiel had decided to turn around and find a tavern for the night, he saw the Prince riding towards the gates of the castle.

He was riding a stallion that Castiel had never seen before in the stables of the royal family and in his company was a young Princess with long, blonde hair and gracious demeanor. It was obvious that they were fairly acquainted because the Princess wasn’t riding her own horse; instead she was sitting in front of the Prince.

Castiel could feel his heart breaking. It was, of course, not literally breaking, because the three iron bands were still firmly holding it in place, but it was not for a lack of effort. His precious heart was whimpering, quivering, and trying everything to break out of it’s iron cage.

Eventually, it was jerking so hard in his chest that Castiel could feel one of the bands cracking. The sound, Castiel was sure, could be heard all the way up to the biggest towers of the palace, and it was enough to alert Dean of his presence. When the Prince lifted his head and caught sight of his former servant, a mixture of disbelief and joy crossed over his face.

“Castiel!” he exclaimed and sped up. The Princess in his lap looked confused, but not unkind. As he arrived at Castiel’s side, he quickly dismounted and helped the Princess out of the saddle before pulling Castiel in his arms.

It was, for all Castiel knew, the most beautiful thing he had ever felt in his life. But as he was sharing the warm embrace of the Prince, he suddenly remembered the beautiful Princess who was watching them. Quickly, he took a step back and bowed down before the Princess.

“This is Princess Joanna, my betrothed” Dean explained. He smiled proudly at the young woman who just stood there, silently. “She… well, it’s a long story. How did you find me, Cas?” Castiels heart wept upon hearing the familiar nickname. “No, wait. Let’s get inside first. I will see to it that you’ll share a meal with us and meet the family. I’m glad to see a familiar face for once.”

And so, Castiel was welcomed into the palace. It was a warm and friendly place and he was treated with more respect than he was back at home – no one saw the servant Castiel in him, for everyone he was the taciturn friend of the beautiful Prince. He was pointed to a chamber all of his own and soon was run a bath to prepare for the meal with the royal family.

Just as Castiel was done with his bath and got dressed, a faint knock sounded at the door of his chamber, but before he could call the visitor inside, the door was already opening and the Prince was entering the small room. When Dean saw the servant, he looked relieved.

“Castiel! I looked everywhere for you. Come on, we still have time before the meal. Let’s take a look around the palace gardens, shall we?” And of course, because Castiel had never been able to deny the Prince any of his wishes, he agreed.

They walked in silence until they had arrived at a small and desolate well at the very edge of the gardens that looked like it hadn’t held any water for years. Dean sat down at the brim of the well and signaled Castiel to do the same.

“I’m sure you wonder why I’m here,” he said, his eyes not quite meeting Castiel’s. “But first tell me, what brought you here? Is my family well? Did they find out what happened to me?”

Castiel was unsure what to answer; anything less than the truth would be a disservice to the Prince, but the truth was never that easy. “It was a witch that guided my way – but don’t worry, she was a good witch, I have proof of that,” he finally started warily. “Your family has forgotten you, I fear. I think it was a curse – but I was the only one left in the kingdom that remembered your name. So I set out to find you again.”

The Prince looked sad, but calm. “I feared that this would happen,” he admitted. “It wasn’t a curse, at least not the way you think it was. You know that I had set out to find a wishing well to restore the way our land was before the curse; and I found one and I wished for it, but there was a price. I had to guard another wishing well as a frog until I was freed. We are sitting on the very well right now.”

Looking down at the well, Castiel startled and Dean laughed a bell-like laugh. “Don’t worry, now it’s just a regular old well. No one is guarding it as of now – I was freed by the lovely Princess Joanna, and I am very grateful for that.”

Castiel could feel his heart pounding fast in his chest again. The weight of his sorrow threw itself against the iron bands and he put a hand on his chest. “Tell me more about her,” he said, although everything in his mind bristled at the thought. “What is true love’s kiss?” Everyone knew, of course, that true love’s kiss was the purest way to heal anyone from a curse or spell.

“Well, no – it is actually a funny story. You know, the Princess has a very short temper. And my price for freedom wasn’t a kiss, it was ‘to fall in every way imaginable’. Of course I had not known what that meant at the time, but decided to accept my fate regardless. I had, as fate would have it, to fall in three ways: I had fallen below my rank as Prince and had to beg to get into the palace after I had retrieved a golden ball from the well for the Princess; I had to fall in love – and I already had; and I had to fall quite literally. When I had been too tedious for the Princess to handle she had thrown my against a wall, causing me to fall down on the floor and get turned into a Prince again. We became lovers since then.”

His heart was racing now. So the Prince had fallen in love with the Princess. It was the natural order of life – Princes did that, they didn’t fall in love with their servants, and Castiel tried to tell himself that he was lucky to even see the Prince again after thinking he had lost him forever – but he still couldn’t calm his twitching heart down. He remembered the words of the witch – was this supposed to be his destiny? See the love of his life marry someone else? If this was it, then so be it, he thought, but it seemed that his heart had other plans. Jerking around in his chest like a firefly, desperate seeking the light, and he could fee the second one of his iron bands break.

The sound was so loud that even Castiel who had seen it coming startled; Dean on the other hand looked around frantically. “I think it was the sound of a twig breaking.,” Castiel quickly said, because he couldn’t bear telling his Prince the truth. He had to protect him, even now. “Probably someone is coming. I think we should head back; it is probably very late anyway.”


	3. Chapter II - The Friend

No one batted an eye when Castiel was adopted into the royal family; because everyone in the family and the kingdom was enamored with Dean, they all too well accepted the dark-haired friend that came with him. And so Castiel was there, day after day, and was soon given the task to prepare everything for the royal wedding between Dean and his betrothed, Princess Joanna.

They were a beautiful couple, no one could deny that. The love they had for each other was apparent to the whole palace and they were almost inseparable. In the next weeks of course, Castiel spent more and more time with the couple and got to know the Princess; she was every bit as lovely as he had imagined, but he also got to experience her short temper around the Prince. Their arguments reminded Castiel a bit of the way Dean and his younger brother Samuel had treated each other; but of course, they were born out of a different love. Castiel was sure that they would make a beautiful husband and wife.

The thought sickened him, and that quite literally. His heart was incapable of beating slowly every time he was around the Prince and raised his best efforts to leap out of his chest. Castiel could feel the iron bands getting weaker and weaker every day; only the third one still held his heart unbroken in place. But he knew that he didn’t have much time, for the wedding would fall on the last day of the agreement he had made with the witch. If he didn’t find his destiny until then, he would never be able to love again.

Still, he held on, for Dean’s sake. He could feel the Prince growing wary, listening to the faint sound of the bands straining in his chest but not quite knowing what he heard, and Castiel had to make the most tremendous excuses to explain the strange sounds. To prove that nothing was wrong with him – and to fulfill his own, egoistic wishes – he spent more and more time with the Prince, who in turn neglected his own fiancé in the hope of making his former servant feel better.

It was only on the day before the wedding that he couldn’t take it anymore. With the knowledge that he had done everything to ensure that Dean would have a beautiful wedding, he searched the whole afternoon for a witch in this kingdom and when he found her, he begged her for an advice. The witch only needed to touch his chest once to see the nature of his predicament; but she didn’t have good news.

“I can’t to anything to reverse this spell,” she said softly. “The terms were clear, I’m sorry. You’ll have to find your destiny or you will face the punishment. I’m really, truly sorry. Love can be a burden.”

“The witch told me I would never love again,” Castiel suddenly remembered the exact words. “I think this seems like a wise enough choice, given the pain I’m in.”

The witch startled. “Oh, you silly boy! Do you not know _what never love again_ _ **means**_ _?_ It means dying, you fool! You cannot live without love in your heart. So if you don’t find your destiny, you will die with tomorrow’s sunset.”

With that, he could feel two of his iron bands breaking completely. Only the third one, still unbroken, held his heart in place, but Castiel knew that he was on borrowed time. His heart was hurting every waking moment now because he had painfully neglected finding his own destiny to help Dean marry the love of his life.

Somehow, it didn’t bother him as much as it should. He thanked the witch and went his own way again; under the cover of the night he finally arrived at the palace and sought out his room to sort out his thoughts. Telling Dean was of course no option; he had to leave before his heart would break completely. But could he bear not seeing Dean ever again before he left? He contemplated his choices until the sun rose and the birds started to chirp. Finally, he decided that he had to see Dean one last time, even if it broke his heart completely.


	4. Chapter III - The Lover

The Prince was in his own chambers, still sleeping. Normally, Castiel would never disturb his peace, but these were special circumstances. He couldn’t risk waiting too long and get into the way of the festivities – waiting until after the ceremony meant being dangerously close to the sunset, and Castiel had to leave before that happened. So, he woke up the Prince unceremoniously.

“Castiel!” the Prince muttered. “What are you doing here – is it already time?”

“No, it’s not. I’m sorry, Dean, but I’m leaving.” There were no kind words that Castiel could have spoken; still, the truth sounded harsh even to his own ears. “I have to leave soon, I just wanted to say goodbye.”

Nothing in the world could have prepared Castiel for seeing the heartbroken look in Dean’s eyes. “But… why?” he asked. “I thought – I mean, I thought you’d stay here. I already arranged everything.”

“There are certain… circumstances that force me to reschedule my plans.”

“So you won’t… you won’t even stay for the wedding? After everything you’ve done for us?”

Castiel’s heart ached, even worse than the last hours. He knew that he was holding on only barely, but the reminder of the wedding was the last straw. Idly, he wondered if _this_ was destiny, to actually die in front of the Prince’ eyes because he could feel the last band cracking. The sound echoed far too loudly in the big chamber.

“CAS!” Dean was leaping out of the bed now, coming to rest next to Castiel and gripping both of his shoulders. “What is happening? What is wrong? _Tell me_.”

“I… can’t…” Castiel whimpered. It hurt. It hurt so much. He didn’t want to be here. He knew that even if the Prince wasn’t in love with him, he still loved him as a friend, and he didn’t want to impose that much grief onto him.

“I’m sorry, Dean, but I can’t stay for the wedding. I won’t be able to. It is – I can’t explain it now. Maybe I will write you a letter, as soon as things have sorted itself out.” Of course, he knew that he would be doing no such thing, but what was the point in telling the truth if it only brought pain?

“But… We’re family. We need you… I need you.” Dean’s voice broke. “I’m… listen, Cas. I know this is – this is a terrible time. I don’t even – I don’t even know why I’m saying this, but really, _you can’t go_. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life here without the person I love the most.”

It was with this words that Castiel looked up in disbelief. What had he heard just now? He wasn’t even able to form a proper answer, instead just starting at Dean.

“Look, Cas, this… I really love Jo, I really do, but she’s just – she’s like a sister to me! I feel like I’m talking to Sam in a girl’s body, every day! I’m not in love with her and she isn’t with me, I already talked to her, I don’t really want to marry her, but what are my choices when my family has all but forgotten me? Live on the streets? You’re the only thing that’s keeping me sane here! I’d just hoped that – that maybe you could… that we could… dammit, Cas, don’t make me say it out loud!”

“But… you fell in love with her,” Cas said dumbly. “You said it, it was one of your trials. To fall down in rank, to fall in love, to fall literally.”

“Yeah, well… I just said I already had. And I did. With you. Years ago. I’m – I’m sorry. This was a mistake. I understand you want to leave now more than ever. I’ll just – just promise me you’ll be safe, okay?”

And with that, Cas knew that he had only one choice left, and that was to kiss Dean. If this wasn’t his destiny, if he couldn’t heal himself with a true love’s kiss, he didn’t know what could ever help him; so he took all of his courage and slowly, softly, put his lips on Dean’s.

It was with a huge crash that the last of his bands broke free and he felt his heart almost leaping out of his chest, but the pain vanished immediately. His heart was racing, but in a good way, like it would do so unwavering for years to come. For the first time in months, Castiel could breathe freely.

“Okay, Cas, you _have_ to tell me what is happening to you,” Dean asked when they finally broke free of their kiss but Castiel just shook his head.

“I will tell you,” he said, “but not now. I think now I have to leave” – he could see Dean’s shoulders slumping – “with you, of course. I don’t think you want to attend the wedding anymore, do you?”

“N – no, I really don’t. But where do we go?”

“I don’t know,” Castiel answered. “Maybe we can find another wishing well and wish for us to be forgotten forever.”

“But then one of us will be turned into a frog again,” Dean pointed out.

Castiel shrugged. “And then we will already have fallen down in rank and fallen in love, so all that will be left will be for someone to make us fall literally.”

“I think I could do this. Provided you will catch me, of course.”

“Of course, Dean.”

And so they left, wishing for nothing but to be forgotten by everyone, free to live their own lives and forge their own destiny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m also on [tumblr](mijrake.tumblr.com).


End file.
